Operation Vengeful
= Overview = Operation Vengeful was the codename given to Earth's response to the first battle of Tolvax . It was split into two distinct missions: Operation Revenge , in which the Commonwealth Fleet broke off into different wings, the most damaging of which saw a small squadron of ships bombarded Parasone with asteroids. This served as a distraction for the second larger component, Operation Avenge . This consisted of a second wave of troop ships, this time with armed protection, that established beach-heads on several minor planets. Aftermath of the first battle When the news of the destruction of the fleet at the First Battle of Tolvax reached Earth the effects were enormous. Apart from solidifying public opinion against the prospect of independence for the colonies it also caused a number of changes in the structure of the Commonwealth's space efforts. When the Commonwealth Space Agency had been formed, it had been modelled on the United Earth Space Fleet and the Asia National Space Agency (formerly the China National Space Agency) and was a non-miltary government agency, although like the ASNA and NASA before it, it maintained strong ties with the air force. When the few images and messages from the defeat were leaked to the general press, the public called for someone to take the blame for not thinking to arm the ships; this fell upon the CSA, and by association the air-force. The rest of the defence industry, which had suffered through decades of reduced budgets and spending as the unification of the world's governments had reduced the forces to handling minor uprisings and humanitarian relief efforts, suddenly found itself in favour again. An Emergency session of the Commonwealth government convened and authorised the creation of a cross-force task force with minimal budget constraints to put down the uprising. Due to the stigma over the air-force, over-all leadership was handed to the Navy, with the understanding that that the 'on the ground' action would be the Army's purview. This task force (code-named 'Iron Fist') was supposed to be a temporary collaboration while the uprising was put down, however due to the length of the war this ended up solidifying into what would swiftly become the Commonwealth Fleet. It was a strong indication of how much the images of the massacre had affected the general opinion of the public was the relative lack of protest against this sudden and mostly unchecked increase in military power. Operation Revenge The first part of Operation Vengeful saw the Commonwealth Fleet employed in the bombardment of several key targets. Kara was chosen as the Indepedent planets main farming planet and as such was hit with fire bombs in order to burn the crops to the ground. Eu-Meh was chosen by Chinese forces for bombardment in order to get revenge for what was percieved as a slight against it's mother country. Parasone was the final target chosen and was picked due to it's hugely industrial output. Admiral Nick Stevens was given the operation and was ordered to use Parasone's plethora of asteroids as ammunition of destruction. Stevens carried out his orders but scaled down on the number of asteroids fired, saving millions of lives and earning himself a court martial. Operation Avenge The second part of the Operation showed that the intial attacks were simply a rouse. When Revolutionary forces left their planets to reinforce those worlds chosen for bombardment they left many of their citizens woefully unprotected. In quick succession the minor colonies of Libra , Jessie and Lincoln were invaded by Commonwealth troops. In one swift attack, the Commonwealth had dented Revolutionary productivity and taken back three of it's lost colonies. Legacy After Operation Vengeful, neither side could claim the moral high ground: war crimes on either side were plentiful. By the end of the two phases of Operation Vengeful, Eu-Meh, Kara and Parasone had been bombed into submission abd Libra, Jessie and Lincoln were reclaimed for the Commonwealth. The Operation humiliated the rebel military, and drove fear into the hearts of the citizens of rebel planets. That fear was magnified by an explosion of Pro-Earth propaganda that followed Vengeful. Category:Military History